Don't sell your old furniture until your new pieces are in the house!

Recently one of my customers called and was upset because the white glove delivery service (A&O) had overbooked the trip to his area and could not get his pieces on the truck as planned. They had made a delivery date, so he felt confident in selling his existing pieces to make way for the new. Well, with the bump on the trip, it would be two more weeks before another truck was headed his way. This meant they were without any furniture in the main living area for that two weeks and that would definitely be a major inconvenience. There was nothing I could do but listen and offer support. So, learn from that unfortunate experience and don't dispose of the old stuff before the new stuff is actually in the house.

I have an empty Living Room now waiting on Furniture that will probably arrive in the next 30-45 days. I sold the other stuff last week. But fortunately for me, it's no big deal. I rarely ever sit in that room. It does look a bit empty with just end table sitting in there.

I learned this lesson the hard way 17 years ago. We had custom ordered a new living room set and the dealer told us we were very fortunate that it was a slow time of year and we would have it in four weeks. At three weeks I put a classified ad in the newspaper to sell our existing furniture and someone bought it and took it away the very first night the ad was published. Unfortunately, it then actually ended up taking six months for the new furniture to arrive. Yep, that's right, six months with no living room furniture. When we ordered new Bradington Young furniture this year, you better believe that there was no way we were getting rid of the old furniture until the new set was delivered and installed!

Time to break out the Lawn/patio chairs. I feel for the person but that's a risk you take having furniture removed before the new stuff is delivered.

I got stuck in a similar situation once, got rid of old furniture before I moved cross country and then had to wait a while for new stuff to be delivered. I ended up renting a couch for 2 months from Rent-A-Center. The store was kind of a weird experience, but at least we had something to sit on at home!

I've done that too, rented furniture for a while. I would far rather get rid of furniture and have the house ready to receive the new pieces rather than juggle around new and old. Unless part of the delivery service includes hauling away the old, that is. I don't know how common that is. Anyway, when the house is empty or nearly so, that's a perfect time to paint or maybe replace or thoroughly clean the carpets, so there is that advantage too.

I have slept on the floor in a sleeping bag on an air mattress for a few nights waiting for bedroom furniture to be delivered. Of course I was young and agile at the time, not so much these days, but it wasn't a big deal to me then.

Most stores do not haul away old furniture, I know we certainly don't. And I get asked that a lot why we don't?

Here in Fairfax County Virginia, where my store is located, we have to take things to the county dump to dispose of them. Last time I was at the dump which was in August, I was the 57th truck in line - that's right FIFTY-SEVEN ( I counted out of boredom). I sat in the line 25 minutes to clear the scales. Every truck has to go across the scale to get weighed, logged-in, then you go to the actual dump and move the old sofas/chairs off the truck...then get back in the line again to get weighed empty and pay your bill - another 25 minute wait. The bill to dump a single sofa is around $ 45 because I am a commercial business entity (it would be about $ 20 if you were private citizen in a pickup) but its the waiting twice in the line that's brutal. On average, to take (1) sofa to the dump and back to the store takes 2 1/2 hours. It's simply too costly to take people's old furniture to the dump. Companies that do so regularly such as the 1-800-GOT-JUNK operators get pre-arranged volume discounts, but little ole Keeping Room doesn't.

Some would say "Just charge for it", and I could do that, but it would be around $ 180, now it seems like you are price gouging, but time is money. Plus if you tell someone you need $ 180 to take that sofa to the dump they will invariably say "Well, since you are going anyways I have this old dishwasher in the basement and this stained mattress to get out of the house" and now you have become a junk hauler, and do my other customers who's new upholstery is still on the truck getting delivery later that date really want that nasty old sofa and ancient mattress co-mingled with their $ 5,000 sofa? No, they don't. So that's why we don't haul out out furniture.

Exactly, and I don't blame you a bit. So for me personally, the answer has to be get rid of the old before the new comes in. I have an average-sized suburban house, and there is no room to maneuver around an old sofa, bedroom set, etc. while new ones are being delivered. So out with the old, then paint or whatever is needed, and then take in the new. Life might get a little awkward for a while in between, but I can't see it happening any other way, realistically.

Just put it on the curb and post a Craigslist curb alert. :)